This week we are trying something new. Truth be told, we were planning on trying something new at the beginning of January but due to various mishaps we are two months late. The snappy-est title we could come up with “Great Stuff.” What that really is a subtitle for is “Great Stuff that was found in our offices regardless of how it got there.” So we begin “Great Stuff” with Kate Beaton’s “Hark! A Vagrant.”

Last fall Beaton’s new comic anthology “Hark! A Vagrant” was published by Drawn and Quarterly, and is truly delightful. it arrived our offices and quietly sat in a pile of things that needed to be read for several months, never really hinting at the ridiculous good times to be had within but one quiet afternoon I picked it up and could not put it down. Beaton’s a veteran cartoonist whose work has appeared in Harper’s Magazine, the National Post and the New Yorker. Beaton is a kind of spiritual kin to Bad at Sports. Her work draws heavily on her degree in history and her broad knowledge of literature, and then couples those intellectual impulses with an absurd sense of humor which would make Monty Python proud and had me laughing out loud over and  neglecting phone calls. In fact, I’ve come back to it and reread it twice since my first reading. If you are a fan of art, literature, Canada, history, and being an intellectual well making fun of intellectuals this shit will tear you up.

The high points for me include jokes about the “Great Gatsby,” the Brontë sisters, St. Francis, and Canadian stereotypes. the back covers cartoon is a special treat for those of us who’ve devoted our lives to things that are often difficult to empathize with.

You can find more delight with Kate Beaton here.

And Drawn and Quarterly here.

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The show starts with Lois Weisberg revealing that she loves publishing more than visual arts. Then peppy interviews follow, including:

* Audrey Niffenegger, author of the national bestseller The Time Traveler’s Wife and publisher of Little Bang
* Dominique Raccah, Sourcebooks
* Marc Smith, Green Mill Poetry Slam
* Haki Madhubuti, Third World Press
* Jonathan Messinger, Time Out Chicago (books) and Featherproof Books
* Donna Seaman, Booklist
* Annie Heckman, StepSister Press

The Chicago Publishers Gallery aims to be a comprehensive resource for anyone trying to get a grasp on the local publishing scene. The permanent collection showcases publications from over 100 Chicago-area publishers, which means you will find everything that falls under the category of locally distributed bound paper. The gallery presents zines, newspapers, comic books, literary and scholarly journals, children’s books, artists’ books and other experimental forms -–– plus a computer with exquisitely organized bookmarks for every worthy local blog, online publication and publisher website.

This is the latest branch to sprout from the mighty Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs “Creative Industries Initiative.” Their fashion initiative begat Fashion Focus Chicago, a week-long Midwestern version of New York’s Fashion Week, and their culinary arts initiative spurred the creation of a professional training kitchen used in the “World Kitchen” series of cooking classes. Now all eyes are on publishing, and a city-sponsored equivalent to CAR (Chicago Artists Resource) is expected to follow.

Sorry for so much ambient noise! It got very loud, the place was packed.

Chicago Publishers Gallery
Lois Weisberg
Audrey Niffenegger
Dominique Raccah
Sourcebooks
Marc Smith
Haki Madhubuti
Third World Press
Jonathan Messinger
Featherproof Books
Donna Seaman
Booklist
Annie Heckman
StepSister Press
Danielle Chapman
Random House
MacAdam Cage Publishing
Joe Regal
Scott Turow
New York
Nikki Giovanni
In the Land of Invisible Women
Gutenberg
So Many Books: Reading and Publishing in the Age of Abundance
New Concept School
Sizemore Academy
William Ayers
Barack Obama
Zach Dodson
Daily Candy
Baker and Taylor
Ingram

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Duncan and Richard talk to Tracy Marie Taylor, artist and curator who curated the new show Bilingual, Art at the Intersection of Painting and Video.

Bilingual focuses on artwork at the intersection of painting and drawing, film and video, encompassing both conceptual and process-driven approaches. The artists in this exhibition are acting as visual linguists or interpreters, breaking down one language and reconstructing it in another, holding the sense of the structure together with an understanding of both.

Bilingual will feature works by Shira Avni, Kylie Baker, Wafaa Bilal, Jeremy Blake, Eddy De Vos, Terence Hannum, Jay Heikes, John Hiltabidel & John Grant, Jo Jackson, William Kentridge, Patte Loper, Joshua Mosley, Sabina Ott, David Reed, Peter Rostovsky, Alison Ruttan, Jason Salavon, Marcelino Stuhmer, Fraser Taylor, Jim Trainor, and Scott Wolniak.

Joanna and Terri talk to Doug Fogelson from Front Forty Press about art books and lots of other neat stuff. Front Forty Press is a small publisher focused on artistic projects. A Front Forty project is one that embodies uninhibited creativity and deals with current topics. The work can be functional, political, ecological or simply expressive. What matters most at Front Forty Press is the cultivation and communication of ideas.

Tracy Marie Taylor
Carol Becker
Shira Avni
Glass Curtain Gallery
Wafaa Bilal
Jeremy Blake
Eddy De Vos
All The Pretty Corpses
Terrence Hannum
Jo Jackson
William Kentridge
Patte Loper
Joshua Mosley
Sabina Ott
David Reed
Peter Rostovsky
Alison Ruttan
Jason Salavon
Marcelino Stuhmer
Fraser Taylor
Scott Wolniak
Doug Fogelson
Front Forty Press
Glass Curtain Gallery
The Suburban
Shane Cambell
Jenny Saville
John Currin
Renegade Craft Fair
Printer Row’s Book Fair
University Chicago Press
White Walls
Quimby’s
John Jennings
Phiadon
Taschen
Direct download: Bad_at_Sports_Episode_113_Tracy_Taylor-Bilingual.mp3

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Jeff Wall, people! Canadian superstar Jeff Wall is interviewed by Duncan and Richard when he was in

Chicago for the opening of his huge new show at the Art Institute of Chicago:

Jeff Wall

June 29-September 23, 2007
Regenstein Hall

Chicago talk to Terri and Joanna at the Printers Row Book Fair.

Finally, Amanda is leaving for

Direct download: Bad_at_Sports_Episode_96_Jeff_Wall.mp3

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